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1 DEVELOPING A PEER HELPING PROGRAM AND TESTING ITS EFFECTIVENESS A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES OF MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY BY MİNE ALADAĞ IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPY IN THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONAL SCIENCES JULY 2005

2 Approval of the Graduate School of Social Sciences Prof. Dr. Sencer Ayata Director I certify that this thesis satisfies all the requirements as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Prof. Dr. Ali Yıldırım Head of Department This is to certify that we have read this thesis and that in our opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Prof. Dr. Esin Tezer Supervisor Examining Committee Members Prof. Dr. Esin Tezer (METU, EDS) Prof. Dr. Gül Aydın (METU, EDS) Prof. Dr. Ayhan Demir (METU, EDS) Prof. Dr. Meral Çileli (METU, FLE) Assoc. Prof. Dr. Fidan Korkut (H.Ü., EBB)

3 I hereby declare that all information in this document has been obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material and results that are not original to this work. Name, Last name : Mine Aladağ Signature : iii

4 ABSTRACT DEVELOPING A PEER HELPING PROGRAM AND TESTING ITS EFFECTIVENESS Aladağ, Mine Ph. D., Educational Sciences Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Esin Tezer 2005, 290 pages The main purpose of this three-phase study was to develop a peer helping program. The purpose of the first phase was to plan a peer helping program with its goal and content. The purpose of the second phase was to develop a peer helping training program and to investigate its effectiveness on improving the helping skills and self-growth of the peer helpers. The purpose of the third phase was to understand the peer helpers and helpees evaluations of the peer helping program. In the first phase of the study, a need assessment study was carried out with a sample of 316 (168 females, 148 males) students from Faculty of Education of Ege University. Results indicated that students preferred peer helpers among other helping agents; they preferred both non-directive helping styles (empathic responses) and directive helping styles (instrumental responses); they seemed to believe the helpfulness of the program; they tended to apply to the program; and they wanted the program to concentrate on their career, academic, and interpersonal relationships concerns. In the second phase of the study, in order to investigate the effect of peer helping training program on improving peer helpers helping skills and the self- iv

5 growth, a pre-test post-test control group experimental design study was carried out with a sample of 31 participants (15 experimental group and 16 control group). The participants were also administered six-month follow-up test. The data were gathered by administering five instruments: Communication Skills Evaluation Scale (CSES), Empathic Skill Scale-B Form (ESS-B), Reflection Skills Evaluation Form (RSEF), Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSS) and Self-Acceptance Inventory (SAI). After testing the equivalence of the pre-test scores of CSES, ESS-B, RSS, and SAI of the experimental and the control group participants, a series of 2 (experimental-control groups) X 3 (pre-post-follow up tests) repeated measure of analysis of variance (ANOVA) was employed to the CSES, ESS-B, RSS, and SAI scores of the participants. An analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) using pre-test as covariate was employed to the post-test and follow-up test scores of the RSEF of the participants. The results indicated that a peer helping training program was more effective on improving both the empathic and the reflection skills of the experimental group participants as compared to the control group participants. The results also indicated that there was a significant increase in the experimental group participants selfesteem scores from the pre-test to the follow-up test and also a significant increase in the experimental group participants self-acceptance scores from the pretest to the posttest. In the third phase of the research, a study, mainly based on qualitative data, was carried out with 15 peer helpers and 33 volunteered students/peer helpees (17 females, 16 males) who received peer helping services. All peer helpees were administered Peer Helping Service Evaluation Form and 15 peer helpers were also administered Peer Helping Program Evaluation Form. The analysis of the qualitative data indicated that most of the above mentioned areas were positively evaluated by both peer helpers and peer helpees. Keywords: Peer Helping, Peer Helping Program, Peer Helping Training Program, Peer Helping Service Delivery, Peer Helper, Peer Helpee v

8 To my parents Nurhan and Mehmet Aladağ, To my sweet sisters İlknur and Buket, whose endless love and support have been one of my greatest sources of strength in my life & To all my close friends for inspiring me to believe in power of peer relationships viii

9 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am greatly indebted to my thesis supervisor Prof. Dr. Esin Tezer for spending quality time with me in the development and completion of this dissertation, for making my academic career a challenge and a pleasure; for always believing in me; for providing endless support and encouragement not only in my academic life but also in my personal life, and for being there in many ways for me. She taught me much about hard work and dedication to the profession. I am honored to have such a wonderful supervisor. I wish to thank and acknowledge my deepest appreciations to the members of the examining committee, Prof. Dr. Gül Aydın, Prof. Dr. Ayhan Demir, Prof. Dr. Meral Çileli, and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Fidan Korkut for their significant contributions. They enlightened me with their valuable insights. I would like to extend my appreciation to the chairman of my department in Ege University, Prof. Dr. Süleyman Doğan for not only encouraging me but also providing very appropriate working environment where I had been able to complete my thesis. I would also like to express my thanks again to Prof. Dr. Oya Somer, Assist. Prof. Dr. Sonia Amado, and Dr. Mediha Korkmaz for their sincere interest and valuable assistance in statistical analyses. My special thanks and gratitude go to all peer helpers, namely, Aslı Toptanış, Demet Ocak, Elif Döne, Ergül Kara, Ezgi Toplu, Figen Kaya, Hakkı Tuncer, Halil Aslan, Hazal Şimşek, Mücahit Hızlı, Neşe Çimen, Özge Pilis, Tuğba Atasoy, Ümit Ülkem, Yasin Aydın, who believed in the program as much as me. Their efforts truly made a difference. ix

10 I will ever appreciate my friends and colleagues Serkan Denizli for kindly providing guidance in data analyses and for patiently answering my endless questions; Barış Yaka for his technical supports with the computer related issues; hasan acar for his sincere interest in designing peer helping program logo, and helping in updating peer helping program web page; Ilgın Başaran, Ezgi Özeke Kocabaş, Makbule Yurtluk Başbay, Sibel Sönmez and Tarık Kışla for their loving support; Mânâ Ece Tuna for her moral support and valuable suggestions as well. I also wish to thank our faculty students Can Günöz and Hasan Karaatlı from the department of Computer Education and Instructional Technology for kindly helping me in designing peer helping program web page. I wish to express my deepest appreciation and thanks to my close friends, Zeynep Kavalcı, Yelda Bektaş and Ahu Sayın for their sincere emotional support and their invaluable friendship. I am heartily grateful to my parents and sisters for supporting me in every area of my life. I would like to share this moment of happiness with my family and specially with my grandmothers, whose prayers are always with me. I feel rich and lucky by their existence. x

12 Peer Helping Service Delivery and Supervision Evaluation of Peer Helping Programs Research on Peer Helping Peer Helping in Turkey METHOD Setting of the Peer Helping Program Overall Research Design Sample Screening and Selection of Peer Helpers Data Collection Instruments Instruments Used in the Need Assessment Phase of the Study Need Assessment Questionnaire Instruments Used in the Experimental Phase of the Study Instruments Used to Measure the Helping Skills Communication Skills Evaluation Scale Empathic Skill Scale- B Form Reflection Skills Evaluation Form Instruments Used to Measure the Self-Growth Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale Self-Acceptance Inventory Questionnaires Used in the Evaluation Phase of the Study Peer Helping Program Evaluation Form-Peer Helpers Peer Helping Service Delivery Evaluation Form-Peer Helpees Peer Helping Program Procedure Rationale and Goals of the Peer Helping Program Development of the Peer Helping Training Program Modules and Sessions Personal Growth Workshops Specific Issues and Topics Attendance and Participation Peer Helping Program Coordinator (Researcher) Peer Helping Service Delivery Supervision of Peer Helpers during Service Delivery xii

13 Administrative Permission and Support Data Analysis RESULTS Results of the Need Assessment Phase of the Study Results Regarding the Students Order of Preferences of Helping Agents Results Regarding the Students Degree of Preferences of Helping Styles Factor Analysis of the Types of Helping Styles Results Regarding the Students Reactions to Peer Helping Program Results of the Experimental Phase of the Study Results Related to the Comparison of the Pretest Scores of the Instruments of the Experimental and the Control Groups Results Related to the Effect of Peer Helping Training Program on the Helping Skills of the Peer Helpers Results Regarding Communication Skills Results Regarding Empathic Skills Results Regarding Reflection Skills Results Related to the Effect of Peer Helping Training Program on the Self-Growth of the Peer Helpers Results Regarding Self-Esteem Results Regarding Self-Acceptance Results of the Evaluation Phase of the Study Results Related to the Evaluations of the Peer Helpers about the Peer Helping Program Results Regarding Evaluations of the Peer Helpers about Peer Helping Training Program Results Regarding Evaluations of the Peer Helpers about the Trainer Results Regarding Evaluations of the Peer Helpers about Their Experiences of Becoming Peer Helper xiii

14 Results Regarding Evaluations of the Peer Helpers about Peer Helping Service Delivery Results Related to the Evaluations of the Peer Helpees about the Peer Helping Program Results Regarding Evaluations of the Peer Helpees about Peer Helping Service Delivery Results Regarding Evaluations of the Peer Helpees about Peer Helpers DISCUSSION, IMPLICATIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS Discussion Related to the Need Assessment Phase of the Study Discussion Regarding the Students Preferences of Helping Agents Discussion Regarding the Students Preferences of Helping Styles Discussion Regarding the Students Reactions to Peer Helping Program Discussion Related to the Experimental Phase of the Study Discussion Related to the Effect of Peer Helping Training Program on Helping Skills of Peer Helpers Discussion Regarding Communication Skills Discussion Regarding Empathic Skills Discussion Regarding Reflection Skills Discussion Related to the Effect of Peer Helping Training Program on Self-Growth of the Peer Helpers Discussion Regarding Self-Esteem Discussion Regarding Self-Acceptance Discussion Related to the Evaluation Phase of the Study Discussion Regarding the Evaluations of the Peer Helpers Discussion Regarding the Evaluations of the Peer Helpees Implications Recommendations REFERENCES APPENDICES xiv

16 LIST OF TABLES TABLE 3.1. Sample of the Need Assessment Phase of the Study Participants of the Experimental Phase of the Study Sample of the Peer Helping Service of the Evaluation Phase of the Study Peer Helping Training Program Outline Mean Ranks of Students Preferences of Helping Agents The Results of the Wilcoxon Follow-Up Tests for Helping Agents Means and Standard Deviations of the Types of Helping Styles The Composition of the Factors, the Factor Loadings and the Communalities of the 13 Types of Helping Styles Means and Standard Deviations of the Students Reactions to the Peer Helping Program Pre-test Scores of CSES, ESS-B, RSEF, RSS, and SAI of the Participants of the Experimental and the Control Groups Means and Standard Deviations of the Pre-Test, Post-Test, and Follow-Up Test Scores of CSES for the Experimental and the Control Groups The Results of the Repeated Measures ANOVA for Pre-test, Post-test and Follow Up Test Scores of the CSES for the Experimental and the Control Groups Means and Standard Deviations of the Pre-Test, Post-Test, and Follow-Up Test Scores of ESS-B for the Experimental and the Control Groups The Results of the Repeated Measures ANOVA for Pre-test, Post-test and Follow Up Test Scores of the ESS-B for the Experimental and the Control Groups xvi

17 4.11. Means and Standard Deviations of the Pre-Test, Post-Test, and Follow-Up Test Scores of RSEF for the Experimental and the Control Groups The Results of the Repeated Measures ANCOVA for Post-Test and Follow-Up Test Scores of the RSEF for the Experimental and the Control Groups Using the Pre-Test as Covariate Means and Standard Deviations of the Pre-Test, Post-Test, and Follow-Up Test Scores of RSS for the Experimental and the Control Groups The Results of the Repeated Measures ANOVA for Pre-test, Post-test and Follow Up Test Scores of the RSS for the Experimental and the Control Groups Means and Standard Deviations of the Pre-Test, Post-Test, and Follow-Up Test Scores of SAI for the Experimental and the Control Groups The Results of the Repeated Measures ANOVA for Pre-test, Post-test and Follow Up Test Scores of the SAI for the Experimental and the Control Groups Means and Standard Deviations of the Peer Helpees Reactions to the Peer Helping Service Delivery Mean Scores and Standard Deviations of the Each Peer Helper and the Number of Peer Helpees Interviewed xvii

18 LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE 2.1. Steps to a Successful Peer Helper Program Overall Research Design of the Study Skill-Building Pattern for Training Modules Peer Helping Program Logo and Slogan The Box Plot of Non-Ranked Categories of Agents of Helper The Box Plot of the Students Preferences of the Types of Helping Styles The Box Plot of the Students Reactions to the Peer Helping Program The Profile Plot of Pre-Test, Post-Test and Follow-up Test Mean Scores of CSES for the Experimental and the Control Groups The Profile Plot of Pre-Test, Post-Test and Follow Up Test Mean Scores of ESS-B for the Experimental and the Control Groups The Profile Plot of Pre-Test, Post-Test and Follow Up Test Mean Scores of RSEF for the Experimental and the Control Groups The Profile Plot of Pre-Test, Post-Test and Follow Up Test Mean Scores of RSS for the Experimental and the Control Groups The Profile Plot of Pre-Test, Post-Test and Follow Up Test Mean Scores of SAI for the Experimental and the Control Groups xviii

19 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION In times of stress people usually talk with a supportive friend. Talking with a supportive friend, in itself, provides support at an early stage of emotional distress; thus normalizes the process of seeking help so that the individuals experience the advantage of enhancing wellness before severe, visible, change-resistant problems arise. Not only in times of stress but also diclosing mutual insecurities and fears help the friends to discover that they are normal and they have nothing to be ashamed of. Thus, during hours of mutual exchanges of personal, social, and moral concerns, friends explore themselves and each other more deeply leading to self-growth and self-enhancement which can be considered as major and natural sources of helping (Turner, 1999). The professionals in the counseling field explored the benefits of this natural bond among individuals and became aware of this vast human resources that were underutilized (Varenhorst, 2002). As it was argued by Brammer and MacDonald (1999), it is irrational not to utilize the resources of helping talent in the nonprofessional population since there are many people who have natural capacities to be helpful with their fortunate life experiences; and if these people receive training in basic helping skills, they might make an impact on the helpee. There seemed to be two main assumptions underlying these arguments; individuals have the tendency to be helpful and basic helping skills can be taught. Mainly based on these assumptions peer helping has become a professional area in the field of counseling. Although the practice of peer helping has been widespread with respect to settings and age groups, it has been a more common practice in formal education institutions. 1

20 1.1. The Scope of Peer Helping The concept of peer helping as a generic term simply refers to peer helping peer. In a more comprehensive definition, peer helping is defined as a process in which trained, supervised students; that is peer helpers, or peer facilitators; are selected to help other students with personal and academic issues for the purpose of clarifying their thoughts and feelings; exploring options, and alternatives; offering a supportive relationships; and facilitating students in defining their own solutions (Myrick, Highland, & Sabella, 1995). However, as it has been strictly pointed out by the two established organizations of peer helping, National Peer Helpers Association (NPHA) and Peer Resources (PR) that, while defining peer helping, or peer counseling, no counseling in terms of commonly accepted therapeutic definition is implied. Those students trained as peer helpers to be skilled communicators, are not amateur psychologists or therapists. Peer helpers do not replace licensed or certified professionals or practitioners, but often serve as an extension of the services these professionals provide. In other words, they are neither replacements for professional service providers, nor the substitutes for clerical staff. They also do not provide counseling, therapy or treatment. They do not make decisions for others. They may suggest options or alternatives, identify consequences, or share their experiences, but they do not give advice or tell others what to do. Both the NPHA and PR have independently developed standards that help to identify peer helping and peer helping programs with respect to their planning, implementation and evaluation procedures. The NPHA which was organized in 1984 in U.S.A is a nonprofit corporation whose mission is to provide leadership and promote excellence in the field of peer helping for the purpose of research, training, networking, and dissemination of materials related to the field of peer helping through publications, conferences, and workshops. Moreover, NPHA offers certification to individuals, programs, curriculum, and trainers as part of its mission to equip individuals to help others by promoting standards of excellence in peer programs including Certification for Professionals in Peer Programs, Certification for 2

21 Peer Programs, and Certification for Peer Curriculum. Canadian peer helper movement, called as Peer Resources (PR), has been in operation as a non-profit educational corporation since Its mission is to provide high quality training, superior educational resources, and practical consultation to persons who wish to establish or strengthen peer helping, peer support, peer mediation, peer referral, peer education, peer coaching, and mentor programs in schools, universities, communities, and corporations. In 1978, the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) took a positive stand and recommended peer counseling as being a part of school guidance services; and revised its position statement regularly in 1993, 1999, and In the light of these, The Peer Helping Programs started to offer this opportunity as the natural helping system of peers. This was also called as a resurgence of natural support system" by which students get training to more effectively use the influence they already possess with their peers. With all these developments, remarkable growths have been observed in the nature and prevalence of peer helping programs. The professional literature contains a large number of articles that describe peer helping programs or provide suggestions for implementing them. The level of professional peer programs have also been raised by several important steps including (a) the Ethics and Programmatic Standards were developed by NPHA and disseminated at conferences and at workshops to guide the profession (b) professional journals and books published a flurry of articles and publications devoted to peer helping, (c) the Peer Facilitator Quarterly, which is the offical journal of NPHA, is issued regularly, (d) intensive training sessions related to peer programs were started and offered at the annual conference and regional training meetings, (e) 35 official state associations have been formed and are dedicated to the encouragement of peer programs, (e) the NPHA has published articles in popular magazines with overwhelmingly positive response from both teens and adults (Tindall, 1995). Peer helping takes many different forms which appears in the titles implying the activities such as: peer tutoring, peer support, peervention or peer facilitation, peer mediation, peer conflict resolution, peer counseling, peer education, peer 3

22 ministry, peer health workers, peer ambassadors, and peer leaders. The respective school, institution or organization generally chooses the term that best exemplifies the role of the peer helping within the institution. Peer helping can take place in everywhere such as schools, universities, colleges, hospitals, clinics, community centers, unions, businesses, and corporations (Morey & Miller, 1993; Sawyer & Pinciaro, 1997; Sprinthall & Hall, 1992). Moreover, peer helping can be helpful to any age groups of children, adolescents, young, and older adults (Bratter & Freeman, 1990; Myrick, Highland, & Sabella, 1995; Morey & Miller, 1993; Sawyer & Pinciaro, 1997; Sprinthall & Hall, 1992). Peer helping can be in the form of individual and group formats, and the topics include tutoring, mentoring, conflict mediation, peer education, and all activities of an interpersonal human helping or assisting nature (ASCA, 2002). Moreover, peer helpers are trained and supervised to provide any or all of the skills including; (a) listening and understanding, (b) friendship and support, (c) decision making assistance, (d) tutoring and academic help, (e) educational, career, and health information, (f) role modeling for younger children, (g) mediation and conflict resolution, (h) problem-solving assistance, and (i) referral to professionals (Peer Resources, n.d.a) Theoretical Framework of Peer Helping In the peer helping literature, some theoretical approaches have been proposed in explaining the underlying psychosocial processes of peer helping. For example, Salzer and his associates (2002; cited in Solomon, 2004) described five theories that underlie peer delivered services, which include social support, experiental knowledge, helper-therapy principle, social learning theory, and social comparison theory. In another study (Barkley, Wilborn, & Towers, 1984) Adlerian concept of social interest was considered in explaining the role of peer counseling training. In the development of social interest of high school students, since helping others creates a sense of connection and interdependence with other human beings, that suggest the concept of social interest, by helping others, individuals are helping themselves to develop more meaningful sense of being and living. 4

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